Think before you speak on China: Birmingham

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has issued some worthy advice to his coalition colleagues: think before you speak.

It came after Liberal backbencher Andrew Hastie compared the rise of China to that of Nazi Germany in an opinion piece last week, drawing a mixed reaction from his coalition colleagues and condemnation from Beijing.

"I would certainly encourage any colleague or indeed anybody making comments around sensitive foreign policy matters to pose a couple of questions," he told ABC's Insiders program on Sunday.

"Is the making of those comments in a public way necessary? Is it helpful to Australia's national interests?"

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie. (AAP)

In the case of China, he said the national interest was best served by ensuring Australia engaged in a constructive way to make sure it was a responsible citizen in the region and globally, and respected the sovereignty of other nations.

Labor Leader Anthony Albanese urged consistency when it came to foreign policy but said that was difficult when the government could not come up with a united position itself.